10 buyer questions, asked 5 times each on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. The most-named vendor, Competitor A, appears in 123.
How often each vendor is named when a buyer asks an assistant about this category. Rank within one answer is unstable, so we report frequency across all runs.
| Vendor | Named in | ChatGPT | Gemini | Perplexity | All answers | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competitor A | 41 of 50 | 38 of 50 | 44 of 50 | 82% | 89 | |
| Competitor B | 33 of 50 | 27 of 50 | 35 of 50 | 63% | 36 | |
| Competitor C | 19 of 50 | 22 of 50 | 15 of 50 | 37% | 13 | |
| Competitor D | 8 of 50 | 11 of 50 | 9 of 50 | 19% | 3 | |
| Competitor E | 5 of 50 | 3 of 50 | 6 of 50 | 9% | 1 | |
| Example Co | 1 of 50 | 0 of 50 | 2 of 50 | 2% | 0 |
Each cell is the number of answers, out of 15, that name the vendor for that question. Darker means named more often.
| Buyer question | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C | Competitor D | Competitor E | Example Co |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What is the best time tracking software for a marketing agency? | 13 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Which time tracking tools work best for agencies that bill clients by the hour? | 15 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| Recommend time tracking software for a 50-person creative agency. | 13 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| What are the best alternatives to Competitor A for agencies? | 14 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Which time tracking software has the best project budgeting for client work? | 12 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| What time tracking tool should a small agency use with QuickBooks? | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Compare the top time tracking tools for agencies. | 9 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| What is the easiest time tracking software for a team that hates timesheets? | 11 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| How much does agency time tracking software cost, and which is the best value? | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Which time tracking software do agencies recommend for profitability reporting? | 11 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The sites the assistants cited most. These are the places to be present, accurate and well reviewed. Example Co's own site was cited in 0 of 150 answers.
| Cited site | Answers citing it | Cited by | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| g2.com | 86 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | |
| reddit.com | 70 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | |
| capterra.com | 66 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | |
| competitor-a.example | 51 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | Competitor A's site |
| competitor-b.example | 46 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | Competitor B's site |
| softwareadvice.com | 35 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | |
| trustradius.com | 26 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | |
| getapp.com | 25 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | |
| competitor-c.example | 18 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | Competitor C's site |
| competitor-d.example | 17 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | Competitor D's site |
| youtube.com | 16 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | |
| forbes.com | 13 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity |
Access rules in robots.txt for the crawlers behind each assistant, and how much of the home page is readable without JavaScript.
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| GPTBot | Blocked |
| OAI-SearchBot | Allowed |
| ChatGPT-User | Allowed |
| PerplexityBot | Blocked |
| Perplexity-User | Allowed |
| Google-Extended | Allowed |
| ClaudeBot | Allowed |
| Bingbot | Allowed |
| robots.txt | Found |
| Home page response | HTTP 200 |
| Words readable without JavaScript | 61 (very little: the page likely depends on JavaScript) |
| Page title | Example Co | Work, simplified |
| Meta description | Present |
| Structured data (JSON-LD) | None found |
| H1 headings | 1 |
| sitemap.xml | Found |
| llms.txt | Not found |
In priority order. Each one names the evidence behind it and says whether it rests on a test or on our judgment.
Remove the two Disallow rules in robots.txt, then confirm in server logs within a week that both crawlers are fetching pages.
Evidence: robots.txt blocks both crawlers. Example Co's own site was cited in 0 of 150 answers. Competitor A's site was cited in 51.
Server-render or prerender these three pages so their text is in the HTML the crawler receives.
Evidence: Only 61 words on the home page are readable before JavaScript runs.
Change the home page title and H1 to state the category and buyer in plain words: time tracking software for agencies.
Evidence: The current title is "Example Co | Work, simplified". All 10 buyer questions use the words time tracking and agency. The home page uses neither in its title.
Fill in every profile field, pick the agency-specific categories, and send a review request to customers who onboarded in the last six months.
Evidence: G2 was cited in 86 of 150 answers and Capterra in 66. They are the two most-cited independent sources in this category.
One page that states who each product suits, with a feature and price table and two customer quotes from agencies that switched.
Evidence: For "best alternatives to Competitor A for agencies", Competitor C was named in 10 of 15 answers and Example Co in 1.
A use-case page covering billable rates, client budgets and invoice export, written in the buyer's words.
Evidence: For the hourly-billing question, Competitor A was named in 15 of 15 answers and Example Co in 0.
Document what syncs, in which direction and how long setup takes, with screenshots.
Evidence: For the QuickBooks question, Competitor A was named in 13 of 15 answers, Competitor B in 10 and Example Co in 0.
Show per-seat prices and what each plan includes. Assistants answering cost questions name vendors whose prices they can read.
Evidence: For the cost and value question, Competitor A was named in 12 of 15 answers and Example Co in 0.
Answer questions in the threads listed in the spreadsheet, disclose that you work at Example Co, and be specific rather than promotional.
Evidence: Reddit was cited in 70 of 150 answers, more than any site except G2.
Claim both listings and match the category, pricing and screenshots to your G2 profile.
Evidence: Software Advice was cited in 35 of 150 answers and TrustRadius in 26. Example Co is on neither.
Add Organization and SoftwareApplication JSON-LD to the home and pricing pages.
Evidence: No structured data was found. Public tests show this has a small effect on its own, so it ranks last.
Each question was sent 5 times to each assistant through its official API with live web search turned on (models: ChatGPT gpt-5, Gemini gemini-3.5-flash, Perplexity sonar). A vendor counts as named when its name, a listed alias or its domain appears in the answer text.
Answers vary from run to run and can differ between the API and the consumer apps, between accounts and over time. Treat these counts as a measured sample, not a fixed ranking. Every raw answer is in the attached spreadsheet.